MAXIMA: News and Highlights from the Department of Mathematical Sciences

The University of Texas at El Paso http://www.math.utep.edu http://facebook.com/utep.math FALL 2016

From the Chair (Dr. Christina Mariani)Dear alumni and friends, We can’t wait to see you this

month at our 2016 Homecoming, which features bothin-person and virtual ways to interact! (see page 2)

I am delighted to welcome Assistant Professor Dr. Xi-anyi Zeng, whose expertise in Numerical partial differ-ential equations, Computational mechanics, and Finan-cial/Actuarial Mathematics will support the Computa-tional Science program, which is hosted and directed inthe Math Department, and our graduate and undergrad-uate programs, as well as new Lecturers Lorena Galván,Víctor Jiménez-Nava, Samantha Johnson, and DesmondKoomson.

Especially exciting is our growth in research: Duringthe last five years we had nearly 350 peer-reviewed pub-lications and $27 million in grants, compared to 150 andonly $1.5 million in 2005-10. Our faculty have receivedprestigious awards in scholarship, grantsmanship, andteaching, including four ROTA awards and one Piper.Also, we continue to be ranked top ten for Mathemat-ics and Statistics degrees conferred to Hispanic studentsboth at the undergraduate and master’s levels by themagazine Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.

But we won’t stop there. Our vision is to take theDepartment to a new level and make it recognized forexcellence in research and teaching. We have ambitiousbut attainable goals, including: improving technologyand facilities and developing new programs in Big Data,Financial and Actuarial Math, Data Analytics.

I believe we all share these goals and thank the Alumni,Faculty and Friends for their support. This year, we ini-tiated a Fundraising Campaign to raise $50,000 by De-cember 31, 2016, and we are well on our way, thanksto the very generous gifts of Alumni and Faculty. Par-ticipating in high-impact educational practices engagesstudents’ intellectual curiosity and satisfies their thirstfor discovery. Your gifts provide students with academiclearning experiences by supporting: student registrationfees and travel expenses to workshops and conferences,emergency tuition assistance and scholarships, new re-search equipment and cutting-edge technology.

If you wish to help your Math Department during thiscampaign, please go to https://givingto.utep.edu/mathor use the form on page 4. You can support your choiceof existing funds, or you can easily establish your ownby contacting Erika Villegas, Director of Developmentand Donor Database Systems, 915.747.7283. Finally, Ithank our Dean Dr. Kirken for continually supporting ourDepartment. His leadership is helping the College andthe Department achieve further excellence in researchand teaching. I hope to see you, physically or virtually,at our homecoming in October!

In This Issue. . .• Chair’s Column• Huntley Scholarship• Dr. Lesser Wins Piper• Olympian Alumna!• Alumni Lunch Connects!• Actuarial Action!• In Memoriam

• Stat Lab 24th Year• Faculty Lead Conferences• Club Zero News• Departmental Honorees• Alumni News• CPS Keeps Growing• Two Certificates Offered• Inflection Points

HUNTLEY FUND GIFTED $500KLawrence “Larry" Huntley became an Assistant Professor in theMath Department in 1964 after serving in the military. He wasa dedicated and popular instructor who inspired generationsof students before retiring in 1990. After Mr. Huntley passedaway in 2005, his wife Katsuko “Kitty" Huntley honored him byestablishing the Lawrence “Larry" Huntley and Katsuko “Kitty"Huntley Endowed scholarship to provide annual scholarshipsto our undergraduate majors. Kitty Huntley passed away inSeptember, 2015, and her will gave the endowed scholarshipa gift of $500,000. continued on page 3

DR. LESSER A PIPER PROFESSOR!

Dr. Larry Lesser and UTEPpresident Dr. Diana Natalicio.

Dr. Larry Lesser was announcedthis May as a 2016 Piper Profes-sor. The Minnie Stevens PiperFoundation established this presti-gious statewide award in 1958 to"seek out the well-rounded, outgo-ing teacher, devoted to the profes-sion, who has made special impacton his students and the commu-nity." continued on page 2

OLYMPIAN ALUMNA! by Dr. Larry Lesser

Gerina (Mendoza) Piller

Gerina (Mendoza) Piller (B.S.,Mathematics, 2007) continues tohave major golf success. Beingranked 15th in the Rolex WorldStandings qualified her for the2016 Olympics where she began itsfinal round tied for second place,just two shots behind the eventualgold medalist! continued on page 5

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ALUMNI LUNCH CONNECTS!

The Department enjoyed a wonderful feast on October 27at its annual homecoming week lunch in Bell Hall. It wasa terrific chance to talk and network with friends and col-leagues. Attendees spanned many decades, including alumnGabriel Garibay who graduated (Texas Western College)in 1952 and regaled us with stories from the days whensemester tuition was $25. This year’s lunch debuted the useof global.gotomeeting.com to allow virtual connection withalumni unable to attend in person.

ACTUARIAL ACTION!

UTEP’s Actuarial Science Association held its inaugural meet-ing on September 28, 2016 to discuss future events. Led byits president (actuarial concentration student Mengling Hu)and advisor (Dr. Amy Wagler) from our department, theclub plans workshops on professional skills, study groupsfor actuarial exams, meetings on obtaining internships, andactivities for networking and socializing. The club’s activ-ities will give students concentrating in actuarial sciencesa more complete professional preparation for careers thatapply mathematical and statistical modeling to insuranceand financial industries.

UTEP was approved by the Society of Actuaries (SOA) tobe on the list of UCAP (Universities and Colleges with Actu-arial Programs) schools for Exams P and FM. This is goodtiming for the Department’s long-standing concentrationin Actuarial Sciences (within the mathematics degree) be-cause demand for actuary scientists is projected to increasein the near future regionally and nationally. Actuary scien-tists use mathematical models to price insurance policiesand annuities, and more information about this excitingcareer is at https://soa.org/member/. To apply for a posi-tion as an associate actuary scientist, students must havetaken at least the first two (Probability; Financial Math-ematics) in the series of SOA exams. The Department’sActuarial Sciences concentration has historically preparedstudents well to pass the exams. For more information,contact Dr. Amy Wagler (awagler2@utep.edu) and visithttp://www.math.utep.edu/undergraduate/actuarial/.

PIPER PROFESSOR LESSER from page 1

Each May the Foundation selects only 10 winners out of all(150+) two-year and four-year public and private collegesand universities in Texas. Lesser’s Piper Professor designa-tion came with a gold pin, $5000 award, and a certificatepresented at Fall Convocation (see photo on page 1). Two ofthe 14 Piper Professors in UTEP’s history are from the Math-ematical Sciences Department (Dr. Lesser and 2003’s Dr.Nancy Marcus) and no UTEP department has more. Lesserreceived media coverage and congratulatory letters from theUT System Chancellor, the Texas governor, and state andnational legislators.

IN MEMORIAM

Associate Professor Emeritus Dr. Carl Hall passedaway January 20, 2016. Dr. Hall joined the de-partment in 1969 and retired 31 years later. Histime at UTEP included serving as Chair and Asso-ciate Chair of the Department as well as Presidentof the UTEP Faculty Senate. He was also a verypopular instructor and authored the Brooks/Coletext College Algebra and Trigonometry. Dr. Art Du-val noted, “He was very helpful to me when I gotinvolved with both reform calculus and startedteaching courses for pre-service teachers. He andMike Gray were the entire pre-service elementaryteacher program here, when it consisted of a sin-gle course."

STAT LAB LAUNCHES 24th YEARThe Statistical Consulting Laboratory (SCL) held a pizzaparty to kick off its 24th year of providing statistical andcomputing support to university institution grants and re-search centers, faculty, students and researchers in the ElPaso region. The statistical consulting team has great collec-tive expertise with its ten members and recently-acquiredstatistician Dr. Soyoung Jeon, who received her PhD instatistics from UNC in 2012 and had three years’ post-docexperience at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. At-tended by over 50 people, the pizza party featured presen-tations about the department, SCL, and 2016 consultingprojects, by Drs. Mariani, (SCL director) Su, and Jeon, re-spectively. Please visit our new, mobile-friendly website: atwww.statlab.utep.edu.

SCL staff statistician Dr. Soyoung Jeon, and SCL Director Dr. Xiaogang Su

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HUNTLEY FUND GIFTED $500K

Mrs. Katsuko “Kitty" and Mr. Lawrence“Larry" Huntley

Mrs. Carol and Dr. James Nymann

from page 1

There was an equal scholarship gift in her will given to Emporia StateUniversity in Emporia, Kansas where Lawrence Huntley had received hisBachelor’s and Master’s Degrees. Lawrence first met Katsuko when he wasin the U.S. Army in Japan. He served, was discharged, and went back tocollege in Kansas. He missed Kitty greatly and so enlisted in the U.S. Navywith the condition that he would be sent to a naval base close to Sasebo,Japan. They complied; he returned to Japan, married Katsuko, served andwas discharged. In the early 1950s the immigration quotas from Japan werefilled, but a congressman Larry knew from his Kansas district sponsored abill that gave Katsuko Nakahara Huntley her entry into the U.S. in 1952.

During her last years, Kitty received help from Dr. James E. Nymann and hiswife Carol, the executor of Mrs. Huntley’s will. Carol had power-of-attorneyfor Kitty and took care of her personal, medical and financial affairs from2005 until her death in 2015. Carol received her M.Ed. in EducationalPsychology in 1972 from UTEP and spent 20 years as a cherished teacherwith the EPISD. Dr. Nymann, now an Emeritus Professor in our department,was a beloved instructor who served the Department from 1967-2002 inmany capacities, including Department Chair.

FACULTY LEAD CONFERENCESDepartment faculty have been extremely active in orga-nizing recent and upcoming conferences in mathemat-ics or mathematics education. Dr. Larry Lesser chairedthe 13th International Sun Conference on Teaching andLearning March 17-18, 2016 which was attended by 250people and covered by KTEP-FM, KDBC-TV, and KFOX-TV.The conference theme of “teaching and learning experi-entially" complemented UTEP’s newly-launched QualityEnhancement Plan (utep.edu/engage).

Dr. Christina Mariani andcolleagues in New Jersey

Dr. Christina Mariani co-organized the 6th “High Fre-quency data in Finance andother fields" conference in 2015at Stevens Institute of Technol-ogy. Attended by about 150 peo-ple each year since 2009, thisconference is the first one dedi-cated to the modeling and trad-ing of High Frequency Data and

Analytics, and has been sponsored and endorsed by theInternational Mathematical Union, American StatisticalAssociation, National Sciences Foundation, the Instituteof Mathematical Statistics, the Financial Systems Cen-ter at Stevens Institute of Technology, The InternationalAssociation of Financial Engineers and the CME GroupFoundation. The organizers received a congratulatory let-ter from New Jersey representatives in the US Congress.

CLUB ZERO NEWSClub Zero members continue to present workshops tostudents, on mathematics topics and programming lan-guages. The goal is to help students in their academic life,and to inspire them to use what they learn and potentiallybegin their own undergraduate research experience.

For the UTEP community service event Project MOVE,Club Zero volunteered at the Insights El Paso ScienceCenter, helping them clear and clean storage rooms fortheir displays. (Note for our non-local alumni: the mu-seum was relocated in 2013 from its downtown locationto the old Alamo Elementary School building.) Club Zeroalso helped Insights by using a fun and interactive kid-friendly version of the Monty Hall problem with childrenand parents to raise funds and STEM awareness in thecommunity.

The Club also holds a monthly game night (in collabora-tion with Meeple Board Game Society) open to anyone.The game night serves not only as an enjoyable evening ofthe networking and fun, but also inspires many attendeesto join the club and participate in its other activities.

DEPARTMENTAL HONOREESFOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

Fall 2015: Edmundo Antonio Silva (undergraduate),and Mario Guzman (M.A.T. graduate student).Spring 2016: Ashley Wilson (M.A.T. graduate student),and Ng Tun Lee (statistics graduate student).

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Alumni Data Update Form - Keep in touch!

Online form at www.math.utep.edu/alumni

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Donation FormYes, I want to support the Department of Mathematical Sciences!

Online donations at givingto.utep.edu/math

Enclosed is my gift in the amount of $ for:

© Black Jack Pershing Endowed Scholarship Fund© C. H. Gladman Scholarship Fund© Dr. Gavin G. Gregory Scholarship Fund© Everett F. and Thelma Morris Endowed Scholarship

Fund© Lawrence "Larry" and Katsuko "Kitty" Huntley Endowed

Scholarship© Mary L. Fisk Endowed Fund

© Matthew and Wanda Diethelm/Coca-Cola EndowedScholarship Fund

© Michael J. Shea Memorial Scholarship Fund© Patrick David Kirkland Endowed Memorial Scholarship

Fund© Professor Vladik A. (Chuck) Miculka- Greater Texas

Foundation Removing Educational Barriers EndowedScholarship

© Thelma E. Morris Endowed Graduate Scholarship Fund

or you may use Mastercard Visa Discover

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Please return to:The University of Texas at El PasoDepartment of Mathematical SciencesBell Hall 124500 W. University AveEl Paso, Texas 79968-0514

ALUMNI NEWS

Tracey Gorham Blanco (B.S., Mathematics, 2006) graduated with a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from theUniversity of Wyoming in May, 2016. She is working at Colorado State University in Pueblo, Colorado, where she hastaught several classes for the math department, and coordinates the Math Learning Center.

Jiazheng (Steven) He (M.S., Statistics, 1995) has been working in the health care/clinical trial industry sincegraduating UTEP, doing statistical programming in supporting clinical trials for oncology, diabetes, immunology, andophthalmology.

OLYMPIAN ALUMNA! from page 1

Finishing 11th in the field of 60, she will always have the rare distinction of being an Olympian as well as thespecial distinction of being a graduate of our gold-medal department! As Piller told MAXIMA, “I’m proud to be aMiner in the Olympics. I never would have thought growing up that I would have been an Olympian because Inever played a sport that was in the Olympics. So to have represented Team USA in the Olympics was a dreamcome true, especially for golf being back in the Olympics after 112 years. I consider representing the USA one ofthe highest honors anyone can have."

During her UTEP senior year, Piller was the 2007 Conference USA individual champion (the first player in UTEPwomen’s golf history to win a conference title), Player of the Year, and won four tournaments. Subsequently, shehas had 30 top 10 (including four second-place) finishes on the LPGA Tour. Piller notes,“I feel like having a Mathdegree has really helped me understand golf a little better. There is a lot of basic math used when just playing thegame, but at my level can get pretty complex with the slopes and all of the variables golf has."

CPS PROGRAM KEEPS GROWINGThe interdisciplinary Computational Science (CPS) pro-gram currently has 41 faculty mentors from the Collegeof Science and College of Engineering and is directedby our department’s Dr. Ming-Ying Leung. Within thepast two years, the department has recruited two assis-tant professors to join the CPS program: Dr. NatashaSharma (in the research area of numerical methods fordifferential equations) and Dr. Xianyi Zeng (computa-tional mechanics and scientific computing). We now aresearching for a computational scientist with expertise instatistical modeling for big data and high-performancedata analytics. The CPS program offers diverse researchprojects with themes ranging from computational partialdifferential equations and finite element methods to sta-tistical computing and optimization, computational elec-tromagnetics, geoscience and aerospace models, andcancer informatics. Most projects are sponsored by fed-eral agencies, such as DOE, NASA, NIH, NSF, and USDA,with funding support for students to participate in re-search. Since its launch in fall 2008, the CPS programhas produced 25 Ph.D. graduates.

TWO CERTIFICATES OFFEREDThe Department is excited to offer graduate certifi-cates in two areas: applied statistics and appliedand computational mathematics. Full descriptionsand program director contact information are athttp://math.utep.edu/graduate/. The Graduate Cer-tificate in Applied Statistics is the region’s only certifi-cate program of its kind and is widely applicable tostudents of varying backgrounds, including: business,industry, local medical school professionals, secondaryschool teachers, and recent graduates of undergraduateor graduate programs who want statistical training toimprove their job prospects. The Graduate Certificate inApplied and Computational Mathematics will providestudents from diverse backgrounds well-rounded train-ing in core mathematical and computational skills usefulfor careers in research, teaching, or industrial work inwhich advanced mathematics or large-scale computa-tion is used in an essential way. The successful studentswill acquire strong competences in mathematical mod-eling and analysis, numerical algorithms development,and computational programming.

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INFLECTION POINTS

(See www.math.utep.edu for other accomplishments too numerous to list!)

Dr. Kien Lim received the 2015-16 Giraffe Award fromthe Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

Mrs. María Salayandía was promoted to Administra-tive Services Coordinator.

Dr. Joan Staniswalis retired and became a ProfessorEmerita.

Dr. Amy Wagler named as an Associate Chair of theMathematical Sciences Department and a 2016-17 Fac-ulty Fellow for the Center for Civic Engagement. Shewon the 2016 College of Science Mathematics StudentChoice award based on votes from Fall 2015/Spring2016 graduating mathematics majors.

MAXIMA StaffEditor: Larry Lesser

Production: Art DuvalMAXIMA logo: María BarrazaTypesetting: María Barraza

Printing: Paydirt Printing (powered by Ricoh)

Photos courtesy ofUniversity Communications (p.1)

María Barraza (p.2)Dr. James and Mrs. Carol Nymann (p.3)

Dr. Christina Mariani (p.3)